South Asian Muslim Studies Association (SAMSA)
Founded in 1972 and officially launched in 1974 at Villanova University to promote research on the Muslims of the subcontinent, SAMSA sponsors panels and roundtables at the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Meeting and its regional conferences (NYCAS, MARAAS), the Wisconsin’s Annual Conference on South Asia and the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS).
The current executive board of SAMSA consists of the following: Christopher Candland (Wellesley College); Peter Gottschalk (Wesleyan University); Farhat Haq (Monmouth College); Taj Hashmi (Austin Peay State University); Laura Dudley Jenkins (University of Cincinnati); Zillur Khan (University of Oshkosh, Emeritus); Roger D. Long (Eastern Michigan University); Mariam Mufti (University of Oklahoma); Irfan A. Omar, current president (Marquette University); Raisur Rahman (Wake Forest University); and Theodore P. Wright, Jr. (SUNY Albany, Emeritus).
SAMSA issues a Newsletter periodically (roughly twice a year) with a mailing list of nearly 100 scholars working in a variety of fields related to South Asian Muslims. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, please contact Theodore P. Wright Jr. (Prof. Emeritus of Political Science, SUNY Albany).
Past Presidents of SAMSA
Hafeez Malik (Villanova University), 1972-1975
Irene Shur (West Chester State University), 1975-1978
M. Mahmud Awan (Clark University), 1978-1981
Sam Iftikhar (The Library of Congress), 1981-1988
Theodore P. Wright, Jr. (SUNY/Albany), 1989-2000
Mumtaz Ahmad (Hampton University), 2000-2009